Science fact - 18

The last sunday of September is celebrated as the World Heart's Day!

On this World Heart's Day, here are some crazy facts about your heart:

1. The size of an adult's heart is equal to two fists whereas of a kid's heart is equal to one fist.
2. The average adult heart beats 72 times a minute; 100,000 times a day; 3,600,000 times a year; and 2.5 billion times during a lifetime.
3. Though weighing only 11 ounces on average, a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day. 
4. It pumps about 1 million barrels of blood during a lifetime- enough to fill more than 3 super tankers
5. A kitchen faucet would need to be turned on all the way for at least 45 years to equal the amount of blood pumped by the heart in an average lifetime
6. Every day, the heart creates enough energy to drive a truck 20 miles. In a lifetime, that is equivalent to driving to the moon and back.

7. A newborn baby has about one cup of blood in circulation. An adult human has about four to five quarts which the heart pumps to all the tissues and to and from the lungs in about one minute while beating 75 times

8. The term “heartfelt” originated from Aristotle’s philosophy that the heart collected sensory input from the peripheral organs through the blood vessels. It was from those perceptions that thought and emotions arose.

9. In 1929, German surgeon Werner Forssmann (1904-1979) examined the inside of his own heart by threading a catheter into his arm vein and pushing it 20 inches and into his heart, inventing cardiac catheterization, a now common procedure.

10. “Atrium” is Latin for “entrance hall,” and “ventricle” is Latin for “little belly.”

11. The right atrium holds about 3.5 tablespoons of blood. The right ventricle holds slightly more than a quarter cup of blood. The left atrium holds the same amount of blood as the right, but its walls are three times thicker.

12. Grab a tennis ball and squeeze it tightly: that’s how hard the beating heart works to pump blood.

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Science fact - 17

Never Ending Battery

For over 170 years, the Oxford Electric Bell (also known as the Clarendon Dry Pile) has been chiming almost continuously, the composition of its power source uncertain. 

The Oxford Electric Bell is an experimental electric bell that was set up in 1840 and which has run almost continuously ever since, apart from occasional short interruptions caused by high humidity. It was "one of the first pieces" purchased for a collection of apparatus by clergyman and physicist Robert Walker. It is usually located in the foyer of the Clarendon Laboratory at the University of Oxford, England, but as of December 2009 it has been moved into an adjacent corridor due to construction work, and is still ringing, though inaudibly, because it is behind two layers of glass.

The Design:

The experiment consists of two brass bells, each positioned beneath a dry pile (a form of battery), the pair of piles connected in series. A metal sphere approximately 4 mm in diameter is suspended between the piles, and rings the bells by means of electrostatic force. As the clapper touches one bell, it is charged by one pile, and then electrostatically repelled, being attracted to the other bell. On hitting the other bell, the process repeats. The use of electrostatic forces means that while high voltage is required to create motion, only a tiny amount of charge is carried from one bell to the other, which is why the piles have been able to last since the apparatus was set up. Its oscillation frequency is 2 hertz.

What is most interesting, and mysterious, about the apparatus is the internal composition of the 'dry pile' batteries. It is known that they have been coated with molten sulphur to prevent effects from atmospheric moisture and it is thought that they may be Zamboni piles.

At one point this sort of device played an important role in distinguishing between two different theories of electrical action: the theory of contact tension (an obsolete scientific theory based on then-prevailing electrostatic principles) and the theory of chemical action. The Oxford Electric Bell does not demonstrate perpetual motion. The bell will eventually stop when the dry piles are depleted of charge – that is, if the clapper does not wear out first.

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Science Fact - 16

September 22 is globally celebrated as the World Rhino Day in appreciation of the 5 rhino species - Black Rhino, White Rhino, Indian Rhino, Javan Rhino and Sumatran Rhino. Three of these - Black Rhino, Javan Rhino and Sumatran Rhino - are critically endangered.

Some facts about Rhinos:

• The name rhinoceros comes from the Greek words rhino (nose) and ceros (horn).  

• Rhinos have existed on earth for more than 50 million years.  - The first rhino ancestors appeared on Earth during an epoch known as the Eocene, along with a number of other mammal species. As odd as it may seem, the earliest rhinos lacked horns.

• Rhino horns are made of keratin, the same material that makes up your hair and fingernails.  

• Some rhinos use their teeth – not their horns – for defense.

• White rhinos aren't white and black rhinos aren't black. 

• Rhinos are faster than they look! They can run up to 30 – 40 miles per hour.

• A rhino’s skin is not as tough as it looks, and can actually be quite sensitive to sunburns and insect bites. That’s why rhinos like rolling in the mud so much!

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Found Proof of Extraterrestrial Life. Or Did We?

Yet again, we are back to discussions about existence of extraterrestrial life and another instance of having located it. A recent study published in the Journal of Cosmology points towards the existence of life in space. A specially-designed balloon sent 27km into the stratosphere to monitor the Perseid meteor shower returned with small organisms on board that researchers believe could only have originated from space. Professor Milton Wainwright, from the University of Sheffield’s department of molecular biology and biotechnology, said the particles – a diatom fragment and some ‘unusual biological entities’ – were too large to be lifted from the Earth to such a height.

"The only known exception is by a violent volcanic eruption, none of which occurred within three years of the sampling trip," he said. Thus the paper argues for its incidence from space, with a probable origin in the watery environment of a comet.

The author advocates that there is no mechanism by which such a large sized particle can reach upto the stratosphere as it has a large residence time. Also, commercial airplanes do not fly at the height at which these were detected.  The only possible source from Earth is a volcano - which did not take place just before the sampling. However, I agree with Terry Kee, that it is too soon to conclude anything from that. The scientific community still needs a proof that the particle does not belong to Earth before they can start looking out for life in outer space.

Regarding conducting more experiments to analyse this situation, Prof Wainwright added, "The absolutely crucial experiment will come when we do what is called "isotope fractionation"."

Biochemical processes cause a fluctuation in the amount of carbon isotope ratios incorporated into a biological being. The difference between the true amount of carbon and the amount in the plant is known as isotope fractionation.

He explained, "We will take some of the samples which we have isolated from the stratosphere and introduce them into a complex machine – a button will be pressed. If the ratio of certain isotopes gives one number then our organisms are from Earth, if it gives another, then they are from space. The tension will obviously be almost impossible to live with!"

Let us wait for what the isotope fractionation brings to light and to what extent can we rely on its results! Till then, let's hope that life does exist in some other parallel universe! 

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Want to take a one-way trip to Mars?

The Red Planet has been the focus of discussions these days due to an initiative of one-way trip to the planet by an organisation, Mars One. Their mission is to establish a human settlement on mars within a decade. Between 24 and 40 candidates will be selected to participate in a seven-year training program that would start in 2015. The Martian prospectors would then be sent to the red planet in groups of four. The settlers, equipped with life support systems and Martian humvees, would construct lab facilities for conducting research and living quarters with food gardens. 

So who is game for the trip?  It’s a question that the Mars One project poses on its website:

You could say that most people would rather lose a leg than live the rest of their life on a cold, hostile planet, having said goodbye to friends and family forever, the best possible video call suffering from a seven minute delay—one way. However, there are individuals for whom traveling to Mars has been a dream for their entire life. They relish the challenge. Not unlike the ancient Chinese, Micronesians, and untold Africans, the Vikings and famed explorers of Old World Europe, who left everything behind to spend the majority of their lives at sea, a one-way mission to Mars is about exploring a new world and the opportunity to conduct the most revolutionary research ever conceived, to build a new home for humans on another planet.

Who all applied?

At the conclusion of a five-month-long first round of Mars One Astronaut Selection Programme, 2,02,586 people from around the world have applied out of which 20,747 are Indians! The United States tops the list with 47,654 applications, followed by India (20,747), China (13,176), Brazil (10,289), Britain (8,497), Canada (8,241), Russia (8,197), Mexico (7,464), Philippines (4,365) and Spain (3,722) on the top 10 list.

The Next Step:

Out of these 2 lakh participants, the Mars One selection committee will select prospective Martian settlers in three additional rounds spread across two years. By 2015, six-ten teams of four individuals will be selected for seven years of full-time training. In 2023, one of these teams will become the first humans ever to land on Mars and live there for the rest of their lives, the statement said. 

Mars One said each Round 1 applicant is now being screened by the selection committee, which is expected to take several months. Candidates selected to pass to the next round will be notified by the end of 2013.

The second round of selection will start in early 2014, where the candidates will be interviewed in person by the selection committee.

Who knows, by 2050, we might actually have established human settlements on Mars - Replica Earth maybe!

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Ozone Hole has Started Recovering but Climate Change in Antarctica Uncertain

We have been hearing and talking about ozone depletion and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) since the discovery of ozone hole in May 1985 - the research was published in the journal Nature (Link). Ozone hole isn't an actual hole - it is the annual thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica which is caused by stratospheric chlorine. However, a recent study has found that the ozone hole has started to recover and will recover completely between 2050 and 2100. 

What causes ozone hole?

The cause of the ozone holes is generally agreed to be CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) compounds which break down due to ultraviolet light and become free radicals containing chlorine high in the Earth's atmosphere. These radicals then break down the ozone catalytically. Ozone destruction due to chlorine radicals from CFCs can take place in the gas phase, but occurs particularly rapidly on the surface of polar stratospheric clouds (PSC), which form over the poles (particularly the south pole) during winter.

Although ozone, O3, is a minority constituent in the earth's atmosphere, it is responsible for most of the main absorption of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the atmosphere. Correspondingly, a significant decrease in atmospheric ozone could be expected to give rise to significantly increased levels of UV near the surface

Montreal protocol

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. The treaty was opened for signature on 16 September 1987, and entered into force on 1 January 1989, followed by a first meeting in Helsinki, May 1989. Since then, it has undergone seven revisions, in 1990 (London), 1991 (Nairobi), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1993 (Bangkok), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), and 1999 (Beijing). It is believed that if the international agreement is adhered to, the ozone layer is expected to recover by 2050. Due to its widespread adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an example of exceptional international co-operation, with Kofi Annan quoted as saying that "perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol".

Ozone hole closing, but a slow process

The ozone hole is closing but it is a slow process and predictions are for it to recover between 2050 and 2100, a University of Canterbury expert says. Dr Adrian McDonald (Physics and Astronomy) says climate change in Antarctica really matters to New Zealand because it will cause ice to melt resulting in sea levels to rise.

"But, also the temperature difference between the poles and the equator controls wind patterns over NZ which could potentially mean increased-rainfall on the West Coast or dryer Canterbury Plains. The recent National science challenge aims to identify how climate is changing over Antarctica so that we can understand what our future might be in New Zealand."

Ironically, stratospheric ozone depletion may have indirectly protected Antarctica from the worst of greenhouse gas-related warming. "With the ozone recovery, the future of Antarctic climate is less certain, though the complex interactions in the atmosphere associated with climate change makes this region particularly hard to predict. The future recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole and increases in greenhouse gases will have significant impacts on the  circulation in the southern hemisphere."

Dr McDonald said ozone recovery should act to move the winds back towards the equator, but this may be counteracted by greenhouse gas forcings. The jet-stream positions are one of the main things that help control the width of tropical and polar weather belts. "The increasing ozone hole has until now acted to change the circulation of the Southern Hemisphere so that the strong winds linked to the jet streams have moved towards the pole."

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Happy Teacher's Day

Happy Teacher's Day to all the teachers who have put in a lot of effort to make us who we are today. We owe our successes (and failures) to you :D 

For those of you who are unaware of the significance of the teacher's day, it is celebrated on the birth date, [5 September 1888], of the first vice president of India and the second President of India, academic philosopher Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Radhakrishnan was a brilliant student from the very start and most of his studies were covered through scholarships. At the age of 21 years, he was selected as the assistant lecturer in Madras Presidency College. later he became the Vice Chancellor of Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University before being awarded with the Bharat Ratna in 1954.

This teachers' day is distinct from World Teachers' Day which is officially celebrated across the world on October 5.

Here are some of the quotes on teachers by some great personalities.

1. The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts. ~ C. S. Lewis, Author 

2. I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. ~ John Steinbeck, Author

3. If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.~ Bill Gates 

4. The teacher is the one who gets the most out of the lessons, and the true teacher is the learner.~ Elbert Hubbard, Philosopher

5. There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can't move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies. ~ Robert Frost, Poet

6. Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.~ Aristotle, Philosopher

P.S.-Happy Teacher's Day Mom - my first teacher :) 

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Air Pollution Troubles in America

In a recent study, MIT scientists have studied the impacts of air pollution from major sectors on the health of Americans. The results are a bit troubling - about 200,000 premature deaths are caused per year in the U.S. due to changes in fine particles (diameter less than 2.5 microns) concentrations, and about 10,000 deaths due to changes in ozone concentrations from the emissions from combustion sources. 

The study showed that the largest contributors for both pollutant-related mortalities are road transportation causing ~ 58,000 deaths per year, followed by power generation (~57,000), and industrial emissions (~43,000).

The researchers also mapped local emissions in 5,695 U.S. cities which showed the highest emissions-related mortality rate in Baltimore, where 130 out of every 100,000 residents likely die in a given year due to long-term exposure to air pollution.

Source: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231013004548
Journal: Atmospheric Environment

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